Tasks From A to Z That Library Aides Can Perform



  • Arrange displays and bulletin boards.
  • Back up computer files.
  • Check materials in and out at the circulation desk.
  • Deliver materials to classrooms and school office.
  • Enter information into a computer database.
  • File library materials.
  • Get mail and sort.
  • Help in book processing, Paste on bar codes, date-due slips and labels, stamp school name; and put on book covers.
  • Inventory with hand-held computer device.
  • Journal check-in and processing.
  • Keep supplies available at various locations.
  • Laminate.
  • Maintain school-spirit bulletin board. Cut articles pertaining to the school from newspapers and post.
  • Newspaper subscriptions – place new daily and weekly editions on rods.
  • Overdues notice printing, separating, and sorting.
  • Put materials away.
  • Qualify book shipments with packing slips.
  • Recommended titles.
  • Shelf read.
  • Train other students in using computers and other equipment.
  • Update dated materials and displays.
  • Validate purchase considerations to make sure we don’t already own a copy of the book.
  • Water plants.
  • Xerox copier – make copies, empty change box and roll coins, fill paper trays, and keep glass clean.
  • Yearly evaluations – fill out a survey on recommendations for next year.
  • Zealously publicize the library’s services.




Adapted from Nancy Everhart in “Library Aides: If You Fulfill their Needs, They Will Come (and Work!), in: School Library Management, by the editors of The Book Report, 4th ed., 1998, p. 85-86.